Food Accelerator Program

Lou Cooperhouse has over 30 years of extensive business and technology expertise in the food industry, and is a recognized global authority in business innovation and incubation. He has led cross-functional teams in a wide array of entrepreneurial settings including:  new business startups, mid-sized and family-run companies, multinational corporations, foodservice and retail operations, university entrepreneurship centers, and industry trade associations. 

Lou is a Founder and the Director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC), a world-class business incubation and economic development accelerator program, which provides expertise to the food industry of New Jersey and the surrounding region.  Lou also serves as President of the New Jersey Business Incubation Network (NJBIN), and oversees the strategy for the business incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces that exist throughout New Jersey. In addition, Lou is on the Board of Directors and is Past-President of the New Jersey Food Processors Association, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Produce Processing Magazine. Previously, Lou served on the Boards of the National Business Incubation Association, Refrigerated Foods Association, United Fresh Produce Association, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Future Farmers of America – New Jersey Region.  

In the private sector, Lou has considerable entrepreneurial and innovative experiences in the specialty and perishable prepared foods industry, and in nutritional and functional foods.  Previously, Lou served as President & COO of F&S Produce, a leading regional supplier of fresh-cut produce and value-added refrigerated foods, providing leadership to over 500 employees, located at two facilities with more than 125,000 sf operations. Prior to this, he served as Co-Founder, President and CEO of MenuDirect Corporation, a unique health, wellness, and medical nutrition company, which raised four rounds of venture funding.  Earlier in his career, Lou held positions of increasing responsibility at Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra, Nestlé-funded Culinary Brands, Idle Wild Farms, and Grand Union Supermarkets in areas of business development, product development, quality assurance, and operations. As CEO of Food Spectrum, LLC, he has also provided a broad array of strategic consulting expertise to the food industry, servicing clients throughout North America, and in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Lou received a M.S. in Food Science and B.S. in Microbiology, both from Rutgers University, and has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Rutgers Business School.